NEW YORK, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks fell sharply in volatile trading on Friday, with the Nasdaq confirming it is in a bear market, as concerns of slowing economic growth led investors to flee stocks in high-valuation sectors such as technology and communication services.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 416.09 points, or 1.82 percent, to 22,443.51, the S&P 500 lost 50.8 points, or 2.06 percent, to 2,416.62 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 195.41 points, or 2.99 percent, to 6,333.00. (Reporting by April Joyner; editing by Jonathan Oatis)